Relationships of growth increments of internal shells and age through entire life cycles in three cultured neritic cephalopods (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) with re-evaluation as application for age determination

Abstract

Relationships between growth increments of internal shell and age was studied in three neritic decapod cephalopods cultured in laboratory through their entire life cycles. The studied cephalopods were the nektic Sepioteuthis lessoniana d’Orbigny, 1826, Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg, 1831 and Sepiella inermis Van Hasselt, 1835. Most of the relationship models are in cubic parabolic, except when numbers of increments were estimated from age in S. pharaonis. Differences of numbers of increments from the real age were higher in the pelagic S. lessoniana when compared to the benthic sepiids. The differences were higher in juvenile stages (< 60 days after hatching) than adult stages (> 60 days) in the three species. The increment rate is close to the “one day one increment” assumption. The differences of numbers of increments from the ages and the rate of increment apposition revealed the transition point of the life cycle from 60 days of age, corresponding to the sexual maturity or adult stages. Numbers of increments with higher accuracy are reevaluated to be reliable for age determination at least for the neritic species in the tropical zone, where environmental conditions are more stable, regarding the life styles and stages in life cycles of each species.